1. Field of the Invention
The invention concerns a feeder house of a harvesting machine and in particular to a feeder house with a front face for the attachment of a front harvesting header wherein the front face is pivotable about a horizontal axis transverse to the direction of operation to adjust the header for changing contours of the ground.
2. Description of the Related Art
A feeder house for a harvesting machine, such as a combine, is known in which a vertical pivoting adjustment is integrated into the feeder house or the supply channel, in order to be able to pivot a header about a horizontal axis that extends transverse to the direction of operation of the harvesting machine. This enables adjustment to be made due to changing contours of the ground.
EP 685 147 A discloses a feeder house manufactured in two parts and having a pivot axis between the two halves of the housing along the bottom side of the slope conveyor. The disadvantage here is that the attainable pivot angle is relatively small, and that crop can intrude into the gap between the two housing halves.
DE 43 24 766 A discloses a feeder house with a front face at the front of the feeder house which pivots about a horizontal axis that is transverse to the direction of forward operation. The pivot axis is arranged at the bottom of the slope conveyor.
DE 23 02 499 A discloses a feeder house in which a front face is movable in a generally vertical direction by corresponding hydraulic cylinders but is not pivoted about a transverse axis. In this feeder house, as well as in that described in DE 43 24 766 A, the disadvantage is seen in the fact that the transition of the harvested crop from the header, in particular from the auger in the header, to the slope conveyor, is not always optimal, since the spacing between the auger and the slope conveyor changes as a function of the pivot angle or the height of the front face.
A feeder house is shown in EP 448 844 A and U.S. Pat. No. 4,253,295 in which the front face can be pivoted about an axis that is arranged approximately coaxial with the axis of a front roller of a chain conveyor. Here too, an optimal transition of the harvested crop is not possible from the header to the chain conveyor, since the chain conveyor must be spaced sufficiently far from the auger of the header in order to make possible a sufficiently large pivot angle.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,266,395 discloses an add-on adapter assembly at the front of a feeder house to enable pivoting of a header about a fore and aft axis. The adapter assembly includes a first component that couples to the feeder house in the same manner as the header. A second component is mounted to the first component to pivot about a fore and aft axis. The header is then mounted to the second component of the adapter assembly. A rotary feeder is carried by the second component to assist in conveying crop material from the header into the feeder house.